Barnes v. Sea Hawaii Rafting, LLC et al

Filing 313

ORDER REGARDING MAINTENANCE Signed by JUDGE ALAN C. KAY on 05/02/2018. See Order Denying Plaintiff's Third Motion for Summary Judgment for Payment of Maintenance, ECF No. 120 at 3 n.2, 12. (eps, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII
)
)
)
Plaintiff,
)
)
v.
)
)
SEA HAWAII RAFTING, LLC, )
KRIS HENRY, M/V TEHANI, )
et al.
)
)
Defendants.
)
)
CHAD BARRY BARNES,

Civ. No. 13-00002 ACK-RLP

ORDER REGARDING MAINTENANCE
Pursuant to the Ninth Circuit’s writ of mandamus,
Plaintiff Barnes is entitled to an award of maintenance at the
rate of $34 per day, subject to a potential upward modification
after trial.

Barnes v. Sea Hawaii Rafting, LLC, — F.3d —, 2018

WL 1870090, at *18 (9th Cir. Mar. 28, 2018). 1
In its analysis, the Ninth Circuit stated:
Finally, we note that under the district
court’s view of Hall, an injured seaman
would be faced with a Hobson’s choice: He
could either stipulate to the reasonableness
of the rate supported by the shipowner’s
evidence and thereby give up the possibility
of proving a higher rate at trial, or he
could decline to do so, in which case he
would not receive payments for basic living
expenses until after trial. Id.

1

By separate concurrent minute order the Court has scheduled a trial
involving Plaintiff Barnes’ claims for maintenance and cure to commence at
9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

It is remarkable that in its review of the District
Court’s extensive ongoing efforts to resolve the amount of
maintenance to which Plaintiff Barnes is entitled, the Ninth
Circuit was apparently unaware that back in 2013—nearly five
years ago—the District Court proposed a stipulation to the
parties under which they would stipulate to a maintenance rate
of $30 per day, subject to further adjustment should either
party demonstrate at trial that the rate should be higher or
lower; and that Defendant Henry agreed to the proposed
stipulation but Plaintiff Barnes would not so agree.

See Order

Denying Plaintiff’s Third Motion for Summary Judgment for
Payment of Maintenance, ECF No. 120 at 3 n.2, 12. 2
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED:

Honolulu, Hawaii, May 2, 2018.

________________________________
Alan C. Kay
Sr. United States District Judge

Barnes v. Sea Hawaii Rafting, LLC, Kris Henry, M/V Tehani, et al., Civ. No.
13-00002 ACK-RLP, Order Regarding Maintenance.

2

Perhaps this oversight was due to the fact that Defendant Henry was
not represented by counsel at the argument held before the Ninth Circuit.
See Barnes, 2018 WL 1870090, at *1.